Vagina Monologues spark discussion

Plattsburgh State’s Center for Womyn’s Concerns hosted The Vagina Monologues Feb. 11, in the Warren Ballrooms at Angell College Center.

The Vagina Monologues is an annual campaign conducted around the world by volunteers and college students to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities, according to the official website of the Global Activist Movement to End Violence Against Women and Girls.

At PSUC this year, half of the money raised through The Vagina Monologues is going to be donated to Planned Parenthood, and the other half will go to the organization of Eve Ensler’s choosing.

The event attracted many people including students and parents. All seats quickly filled up before the event started. The ballrooms were decorated in pink and red, along with balloons, which created a perfect Valentine’s Day atmosphere. The stage was covered in a yellow light to make the audience feel warm and cozy.

In the corner of the room, there were tables selling candies, vagina pops, buttons and t-shirts. All the money from selling those would be donated as well.

“The event went really well, and it was a great turnout for all of us,” senior psychology major and treasurer of the Center for Womyn’s Concerns Jake Santilli said. “There were many more people than we anticipated, and more people came this year as well.”

The cast is different every year. To be in the cast, all the students had to audition.

“We only had about two weeks with a few rehearsals, along with everybody’s busy schedule,” he said.

In 1996, Eve Ensler started The Vagina Monologues by interviewing 200 women about their feminine experiences of love, sex, rape, orgasm and more, which has been translated into 48 languages, performed in over 140 countries.

“The Vagina Monologues’ goal is to start a discussion about female anatomy, sex and women’s rights because we don’t really talk about them,” Santilli said. “People try to avoid talking about them.”

In 1988, Eve Ensler and a group of women in New York City established V-Day. Its mission is to bring the issue of violence against women and girls, according to its own official website.

The main purpose of the event is to raise awareness about V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls, according to junior communication studies major and president of the Center for Womyn’s Concerns Sydney Dixon.

“The Vagina Monologues make women feel empowered,” Dixon said. “You are in the safe space to be able to express yourself and to feel that energy.”

The Center for Womyn’s Concerns holds the Vagina Monologues annually. Every year, the club picks certain monologues based on their reflection to the current issues.

“We also pick them based on people who audition and which piece would fit the person’s voice,” she said.

Dixon said this is her first experience working on an executive board position. She attended the Vagina Monologues last year, which was when she was interested in the club and wanted to join.

“I think it is an important event for everybody to come and see to just get involved on campus in general,” Dixon said. “Coming to an event like this, you realize how women are able to take back the current feelings they have toward their vagina.”

“I have done the Vagina Monologues in high school before,” freshman journalism major Nyela Graham said. “It was really cool to see from an outside perspective.”

Graham’s favorite part of the event was “The woman who loved to make vaginas happy” piece with all different types of moans. The story made people feel more comfortable with the topic of sex, according to her.

“People don’t really like to talk about that topic, so I think the event is really helpful for everybody,” Graham said. “It educated people about the issue as well.”